LOCKHEED MARTIN and a joint venture established by Raytheon and Hughes Aircraft have been named by the US Army as the US teams to undertake initial research and development on the Corps Surface-to-Air Missile (Corps SAM) programme. The two were selected over a third US team formed by Loral, TRW and Westinghouse.
The Corps SAM programme and related European Medium Extended Air Defence System (MEADS) project will lead to the deployment of the next-generation medium-range air-defence system by the USA, Germany, France and Italy. In February, the four nations agreed to pursue development of the SAM system.
Contracts for project definition and validation are expected to be awarded to the US contractors in January following the formal signing of the US/European MEADS memorandum of understanding, which had been set for October.
Source: Flight International